I now receive weekly requests now from media and educational leaders to understand the field of youth entrepreneurship education. I am not surprised, there is a lot happening and with unemployment hovering at 10% and a growing epidemic of high school dropouts (1:2 minority youth), we really need programs to engage youth with RELEVANT AND REAL LIFE SKILLS in our schools.

From a recent White House Report (not yet released), to the World Economic Forum paper, to an Aspen Institute Publication and NFTE research– I hope these links on page 2 will help you in your journey to better understand our field and to help youth find their PATHWAYS TO PROSPERITY.

The best Powerpoint presentation that I have ever seen is ‘Shift Happens,’ (on slideshare– over a million viewers) because it tells a story, its fascinating, and the graphics by my new friend Jeff Brenman are stunning… Most importantly, my ADD brain took it all in and I really learned something and wanted to share it with everyone I knew/know… so being my entrepreneurial self I begged Jeff to help me create a visual slideshow to share the importance of youth entrepreneurship education in America and explain NFTE in a fun and entertaining style (see Tanya’s Story… its a true story of one of our DC youth… and her story, to me represents thousands of youth … see link below).

If you have suggestions or other links I should really add — let me know. Write me anytime. Connect on Facebook or follow me and ‘Retweet’ on Twitter. I plan to update this document monthly and send related information out on NFTE and our field… weekly!

” — in this time of great economic difficulty — is concerned above all else with creating more jobs for Americans…and there is simply no better vehicle for job creation than fostering entrepreneurship.,” Secretary of Commerce, Locke, January 2010. Entrepreneurs create approximately three million jobs a year.”

The World Economic Forum’s Educating the Next Wave of Entrepreneurs report issues a call to action to catalyse entrepreneurship globally through education
Issued by the Forum’s Global Education Initiative, • the report aims to raise awareness of the importance of entrepreneurship education in unlocking entrepreneurial capabilities to meet the global challenges of the 21st century

“Entrepreneurship education is crucial in restarting the economy in this time of economic crisis”-

9] Survey of the States 2009: The State of Economic, Financial and Entrepreneurship Education in our Nation’s Schools by the Council for Economic Education http://www.councilforeconed.org/about/survey2009/ADDITIONAL WAYS TO STAY CONNECTED… JOIN THE NFTE CAUSE ON FACEBOOK AND STAY IN THE LOOP WITH EVENTS AND NEWS UPDATES :

Twitter: Follow “@NFTEJuliek” to stay in the know… or find me on Facebook for daily/weekly updates.

About Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE) is an international nonprofit organization that teaches young people from low-income communities to think like entrepreneurs, so they can take control of their futures. Founded in 1987 by Steve Mariotti, a former New York City public school teacher, it originally began as a dropout prevention and academic performance improvement program for students who were at risk of failing or quitting school. Today, NFTE has grown into a comprehensive business education program in 22 states and 12 countries with more than 280,000 graduates and more than 1,500 NFTE-certified entrepreneurship teachers. (www.nfte.com)